Light beer, like wine, is very useful for improving the intestinal microflora, if we are talking about moderate consumption of the drink, equal to one bottle of beer. This was stated by American scientists, having conducted a new study. The findings are published in the ACS Agriculture and Food Chemical journal of the American Chemical Society.
In one experimental study, experts reported that men who drank alcoholic or non-alcoholic lager daily had more diverse gut microbes, which could reduce the risk of a number of diseases.
Trillions of microorganisms cover the human gastrointestinal tract and directly affect human health.
Studies have shown that the more types of bacteria inhabit the gut, the lower the likelihood of developing chronic diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes. And since beer contains compounds such as polyphenols, as well as microorganisms from their fermentation, this drink can affect the diversity of microbes in the human gut.
A previously published cross-sectional study found that gut microbiota diversity increased when men and women consumed non-alcoholic light beer for 30 days. Many of the same people were in group 2 who drank beer with alcohol and did not have the same effect.
In this double study, 19 healthy men were randomly divided into two groups who drank 330 ml of alcoholic or non-alcoholic beer with dinner for 4 weeks.
As a result, the researchers found that parameters such as participants’ weight, body mass index, and serum markers of heart health and metabolism did not change during the study. However, by the end of the month, both groups had greater bacterial diversity and higher levels of fecal alkaline phosphatase in the gut microbiome, indicating improved gut health.
The researchers suggested that these results may differ from previous observations due to different testing schemes and because the participants were in different communities. Based on this experimental study, the scientists stated that drinking a bottle of beer, regardless of the alcohol content, may be beneficial for the gut microbiome and men’s gut health. That being said, they noted that non-alcoholic beer could be a much healthier choice as it has the safest level of alcohol consumption, i.e. equal to zero.
